Predator [Blu-ray]
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Movie Reviews of Predator [Blu-ray]
Movie Review: Great price for a great movie on BluRay
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a great purchase. One of Arnold's better movies.
Buy this one, not the sequel.
Movie Review: A man's movie. Girl's not allowed
Summary: 4 Stars
After starring as one of the most iconic and unstoppable villains ever in Terminator, it was high time that Arnie had a worthy foe to fight against. And he got way more than he bargained for with the Predator.
Before his crowning achievement of Die Hard, John McTiernan assembled a group of seven muscle-bound commandos in the South American jungle and let them unleash hell on Latinos, Russians and Aliens alike with an awesome arsenal of macho weaponry. This is definitely a man's movie. Both Alien and Aliens - hell, even Friday The 13th - had a thing about two females going head to head at the end. How are us guys supposed to get a kick out of endings like that? Arnie plays Major Alan 'Dutch' Schaefer, the leader of an elite Spec Ops force. His team is called to duty by General Phillips (R.G. Armstrong) and the very suspicious Dillon (Carl Weathers) to rescue a bunch of government officials, who have been shot down in enemy territory in Latin America.
As soon as they arrive in the jungle something is watching their every move from the trees. And they get the feeling that things just ain't right. The first rescue team is found disemboweled and skinned. Same goes for their chopper.
None of them trust Dillon. He's up to no good. There are no cabinet ministers being held hostage, just a bunch of his CIA pals being tortured by the Russians. In no less than five minutes, all seven of them completely obliterate a rebel guerrilla camp. The CIA hostages are dead.
Dutch is angry and feels mighty betrayed. Dillon lied to him and their mission is over as soon as it started. All they have to do is make a journey through one valley to the nearest rendezvous point and fly back home. Not so simple when a high-tech, seemingly invisible, 7'2'', extra-terrestrial Rastafarian hunter is picking them off one by one and keeping their skulls as trophies. This predator is obviously a fan of the 1932 movie, The Most Dangerous Game.
In the same way that he created nervous claustrophobia around the Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard, McTiernan floods the movie with an oppressive and twitchy atmosphere. Half of the film's ominous tone comes from Alan Silvestri's militaristic and primeval score, with pounding drums and lurking strings, indicating that the Predator's haunting presence is everywhere. He could strike from any corner at any moment. And he does.
Nothing Dutch and his men seem to do can thwart this enemy and in no time at all Dutch is the last one standing. He runs for his life with the Predator in hot pursuit.
The final act is no doubt the strongest and can even be viewed as a separate movie altogether. McTiernan ditches the lush, steamy jungle from the first two acts and completely turns it around into a strikingly Gothic, baroque, supernatural landscape. There is a subtext of primitive brutality winning over highly advanced super-weapons. And there is enough testosterone between Dutch and the Predator to fill 100 tanker trucks. Women, totally, need not apply.
Definitely one of Arnie's best and a landmark action movie. No doubt. Outdone only by the sequel.
The Blu Ray is a mixed bag. But I need to remind you that Predator was INTENTIONALLY shot very grainy, gritty and dirty. It think it's a brilliant look for the film. So don't go expecting Pixar-like image quality on this 1080p transfer. In fact so many people were dismayed at Predator looking this way that Fox reissued it with all the grain smeared out. Could the film benefit from a fresh master from the original negative using the VC-1 codec? No doubt. But we won't be getting that "anytime" soon. The DTS HD-MA sound design is amazing though, and will surely convince your neighbors that a war has broken out next door.
Zero extras, which is stupid since they were ready and willing by the time this Blu Ray went into production.
Movie Review: Better than the DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm not going to review the movie since that would be a mute point after over 20 years. You know it, you like it, or you don't. But I will review the blu-ray version of this film on a software level. The main question here is is this an upgrade form the DVD collectors edition or not? And the answer(s) is yes AND no. From an image and sound standpoint the answer is most assuredly yes, This 2007 blu-ray release retains the original film grain from 1987 and that's a good thing. The image is much sharper over the DVD, has more surface detail to images especially in close up and the colors are more natural with detail visible in shadowy areas and very deep blacks. The DVD had a muddy look to it over all and was rather on the soft side. I do however think that this is not a true HD image just an HD scrubbed up DVD image. But still the picture is a marked improvement over the DVD. Sound is real nice if not front heavy. It is DTS-HD and nice and crisp. The original film was only released in Dolby stereo in theaters so maybe Fox tried to stay a bit purist and leave most of the soundscape in the front. NOW the bad news. All the special features that were on the DVD are not on the blu-ray. Why that is I don't know. Netflix and Amazon.com list this as the Collector's Edition. Not so. the only special feature to make it from DVD to blu-ray is the trailer. What you do get is a bunch of other trailers...for other movies. So, if you can live with out the bells and whistles then this upgrade is worth the buy. Now, there is another Predator blu-ray just out called the Ultimate Hunters Edition. This does have all the special features from the DVD and some new ones BUT be warned the image has been super manipulated and noise reduced to the point that all and I mean ALL the original film grain has been scrubbed clean removing with it a lot of small surface detail. Most of the actors faces look like they were cast from Madam Trussard's Wax Museum. And even in close ups. So if you don't care about your film looking like a real film an just can't live without all the special feature swag...pick the new one up. I'm just going to live with my DVD collector's edition until Fox get's it right.Movie Review: Pretty good BD
Summary: 4 Stars
I refused to buy the new "The Ultimate Grain free and detail free edtion", so i bought this first edition on BD that i think looked much better and had plenty of details and more of the natural grain that it is supposed to have. If you really like this film and bought the "Ultimate edition" on BD or only one of the dvd releases, i strongly recommend you to buy this first BD edition.
I have seen many people saying this first BD edition is too grainy. I don`t agree. I have seen more grainy films than this before. I don`t think this film have excessive grain. I have read that from people that saw in the cinema in 87, said it had grain. So, naturally this BD has it. It`s supposed to have it. If you think this BD edition have too much grain, you shouldn`t see the BD of City of the living dead.
It is even more grainier than this film.
Don`t believe the others that sayed it`s too grainy, i don`t think it`s so bad they wanted it to be. I think they exaggerated it.
Some scenes have more grain than others, but i think the picture quality was pretty good. The picture and sound quality surely was a lot better than the last time i saw on tv several years ago just in SD.
I think the audio quality was impressive. The only thing stopping me from giving the audio 5, full score is that several times i hear hissing when they speak and the dialog at times sounds tinny. There was great deep bass, especially when the minigun was used and + explosions. I was happy with it. Good enough for me.
Film: 4.5/5
Picture quality: 4/5
Audio quality: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Movie Review: On balance, a worthy upgrade from DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
I understand why anyone who bought Predator at the initial release price would feel frustrated. However, as an 'under $10' Blu, it's a worthy upgrade from the 1-disk DVD edition.
It's true, Predator is not the most sparkly, shiny, spotless picture Blu can offer but I suspect that the initial source was that way because the DVD version wasn't of great quality either. But an upgrade it is. I watched a few minutes of the DVD version and, even with the DVD upconverted, the Blu is superior. And, let's not forget, Blu is more than just picture. DTS-HD MA sound is a great improvement over the DVD version, even my untrained ears can tell.
Anything else is just... not there. No special features unless you'd call trailers 'special'. I noticed a strange "English 4.0 surround" sound track - what is that? In addition, there's Spanish mono and French 'stereo'. Subtitles come in English, Spanish, Cantonese and Korean.
To conclude, I don't regret this purchase. I always liked Predator and I'm likely to watch it again. The $9.99 I paid for this edition is worth the improvements over the DVD.